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Financial industry mobilisation and securities markets regulation in E urope
Author(s) -
Chalmers Adam William
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
european journal of political research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.267
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1475-6765
pISSN - 0304-4130
DOI - 10.1111/1475-6765.12099
Subject(s) - salience (neuroscience) , openness to experience , financial crisis , politics , financial regulation , financial market , diversity (politics) , financial services , business , finance , order (exchange) , economics , function (biology) , financial system , political science , law , psychology , social psychology , evolutionary biology , biology , cognitive psychology , macroeconomics
The 2007–2009 financial crisis has led to considerable debate about the role of financial industry actors in global regulatory processes. This article seeks to contribute to this debate by assessing when and why financial industry actors mobilise in order to influence securities markets regulations. Do these mobilisation patterns suggest undue influence by a small set of powerful industry actors, or do they reflect the engagement of a more diverse set of actors representing broader public interests? It is argued that variation in mobilisation patterns is a function of: (1) institutional opportunity (the openness and accessibility of regulatory politics); and (2) demonstration effects (how crises increase the salience of regulatory issues). Empirical analyses suggest that the financial crisis diminished the diversity of mobilising actors. This trend, however, is reversed when the news media disseminate information about the costs of weak financial regulation and thereby increase the salience of regulatory issues.